search

Search the National Library's catalog - books, newspapers, journals, photos, maps, music, manuscripts, radio/TV and more, both physical and digitized. Digitized text (OCR) is matched too by default, so a query can surface newspaper or book pages that mention a term even when it's not in the title.

Signature: search(q: string, required; media_type: string, optional, default None; language: string, optional, default None; county: string, optional, default None; year_from: integer, optional, default None; year_to: integer, optional, default None; digital_only: yes/no, optional, default False; sort: string, optional, default None; page: integer, optional, default 0; size: integer, optional, default 10; limit: integer, items, optional, default 25; offset: integer, items, optional, default 0)

Direct GET

For navigating agents: open the HTML page with parameters in the URL. The result is fetched and displayed without screenshots or form filling.

Open this validated HTML GET URL

https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search/?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0

Replace {q}, {media_type}, {language}, {county}, {year_from}, {year_to}, {digital_only}, {sort}, {page}, {size} with values. Remove unused optional parameters from the URL.

For software and dashboards: Read the operation descriptor. The JSON GET template is https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0. Open this exact request as JSON.

Parameter	Requirement	JSON type	Description
`q`	required	string	Free-text query. Supports field-restricted terms too, e.g. "subject:fiske year:1970" combined with free text.
`media_type`	optional	union	Restrict to one type, e.g. aviser (newspapers), bøker (books), tidsskrift (journals), bilder (photos), musikk, kart (maps), film, plakater (posters), noter (sheet music), radio, fjernsyn. See get_aggregations(q="*", group_by="mediatype") for the full list with counts.
`language`	optional	union	Language filter - values are inconsistent in the catalog (mixes codes like "nob" and labels like "Norsk bokmål"); check get_aggregations(q=q, group_by="languages") first if unsure.
`county`	optional	union	Norwegian county name, e.g. "Troms", "Oslo".
`year_from`	optional	union	Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
`year_to`	optional	union	Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).
`digital_only`	optional	boolean	Only items that have been digitized.
`sort`	optional	union	One of date, title, otherid, firstDigitalContentTime, optionally suffixed ",desc" (default: relevance).
`page`	optional	integer	Zero-based page index.
`size`	optional	integer	Results per page, 1 to 100 (default 10).
`limit`	optional	integer	Gateway page size; default 25, maximum 100.
`offset`	optional	integer	Number of list items to skip; default 0.

Generated JavaScript, Python and response structure

Use JSON when the user requests code, machine-readable data, value extraction or further computation. Use the HTML GET page to identify the correct source and verify parameters.

Example for generated JavaScript and Python

https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0

Replace URL placeholders and remove unused optional parameters.

JavaScript in a dashboard

const url = "https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) {
  const failure = await response.json();
  throw new Error(`${failure.error.code}: ${failure.error.message} ${failure.suggestion}`);
}
const result = await response.json();
const data = result.data;

Python without additional packages

import json
from urllib.request import urlopen

url = "https://allemannsdata.com/wiki/api/v1/kilder/nasjonalbiblioteket/search?q={q}&media_type={media_type}&language={language}&county={county}&year_from={year_from}&year_to={year_to}&digital_only=false&sort={sort}&page=0&size=10&limit=25&offset=0"
with urlopen(url) as response:
    result = json.load(response)
data = result["data"]

Response structure

{
  "source": "nasjonalbiblioteket",
  "operation": "search",
  "parameters": {},
  "data": {},
  "entities": [],
  "_meta": {"retrieved_at": "...", "sources": [], "cache": {}},
  "_links": {"self": "...", "source": "...", "wiki": "...", "feedback": "..."}
}

Form for manual use

The form is a fallback for people and browser agents that cannot open the GET URL directly.

q (required) Type: string. Free-text query. Supports field-restricted terms too, e.g. "subject:fiske year:1970" combined with free text.

media_type Type: string. Restrict to one type, e.g. aviser (newspapers), bøker (books), tidsskrift (journals), bilder (photos), musikk, kart (maps), film, plakater (posters), noter (sheet music), radio, fjernsyn. See get_aggregations(q="*", group_by="mediatype") for the full list with counts.

language Type: string. Language filter - values are inconsistent in the catalog (mixes codes like "nob" and labels like "Norsk bokmål"); check get_aggregations(q=q, group_by="languages") first if unsure.

county Type: string. Norwegian county name, e.g. "Troms", "Oslo".

year_from Type: integer. Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).

year_to Type: integer. Restrict to items published/issued in this year range (inclusive).

digital_only Type: yes/no. Only items that have been digitized.

sort Type: string. One of date, title, otherid, firstDigitalContentTime, optionally suffixed ",desc" (default: relevance).

page Type: integer. Zero-based page index.

size Type: integer. Results per page, 1 to 100 (default 10).

Result

Source: National Library of Norway. Retrieved 2026-09-24T17:13:00Z in 0.191 seconds.

total:

74869

page:

size:

items:

10 results

id:
dccfdcca0676c35b22c4ce8e1872e2ea
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008111300013
title:
Hadsel bygdebok. 2 : Vi bygger videre
creators:
2 results
1. Hovland, Edgar
2. Hadsel bygdehistorienemnd
year:
2000
publisher:
Hadsel bygdehistorienemnd
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
Nordland
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
bokhylla
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NORWAY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008111300013_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/dccfdcca0676c35b22c4ce8e1872e2ea
id:
59fdb4d1690e05e4211f081d4254c014
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011010508117
title:
Hadsel bygdebok. 1 : De bygde landet
creators:
2 results
1. Hovland, Edgar
2. Hadsel bygdehistorienemnd
year:
1995
publisher:
Hadsel bygdehistorienemnd
media_types:
1 results
1. bøker
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
Nordland
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
bokhylla
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NORWAY
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011010508117_C1/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/59fdb4d1690e05e4211f081d4254c014
id:
acc01be029e0b1990a0fbd415335986d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023030883034_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 2022
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
2022
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2023030883034_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/acc01be029e0b1990a0fbd415335986d
id:
aba7d6e09ba9ad4e8360f96ebb4cb2ea
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025010783170_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 2024 69
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
2024
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2025010783170_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/aba7d6e09ba9ad4e8360f96ebb4cb2ea
id:
b3b6ccc83ebf7aab0034010c86222cb7
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181460_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 2002 Vol. 46 47
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
2002
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181460_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/b3b6ccc83ebf7aab0034010c86222cb7
id:
973ce89102c8b49889217be51d69c207
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181468_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 2006 Vol. 50 51
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
2006
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181468_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/973ce89102c8b49889217be51d69c207
id:
674d775052890077ba4da4be68901bd5
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181450_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 1997 Vol. 41 42
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
1997
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181450_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/674d775052890077ba4da4be68901bd5
id:
29f63571ac408d4e1e98c5409b24c6c0
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181604_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 1966 Vol. 10 11
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
1966
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181604_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/29f63571ac408d4e1e98c5409b24c6c0
id:
6898a62e5eb7daf7f4e1d3b90f3a57c4
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181612_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 1983 Vol. 27 28
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
1983
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181612_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/6898a62e5eb7daf7f4e1d3b90f3a57c4
id:
e59e45e5bb577ee611f1c75eb9ac049d
urn:
URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181458_001
title:
Hofdasegl. 2001 Vol. 45 46
creators:
1 results
1. Hadsel historielag
year:
2001
publisher:
Hadsel historielag
media_types:
1 results
1. tidsskrift
languages:
1 results
1. nob
county:
not reported by source
digital:
yes
public_domain:
no
license:
copyrighted
viewability:
NONE
access_allowed_from:
NB
thumbnail:
https://www.nb.no/services/image/resolver/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2018110181458_001_0001/full/0,128/0/native.jpg
viewer_url:
https://www.nb.no/items/e59e45e5bb577ee611f1c75eb9ac049d

limit:

offset:

returned:

has_more_results:

yes

truncated:

yes

next_offset:

Will you use the result in generated code?

Open the same result as JSON

Is data missing or incorrect? Send feedback about this result.

Continue exploring

How an AI agent should use this page

Ground rule: Navigate with HTML GET links to keep explanations and relationships. Use the page's JSON alternative only when concrete values must be extracted, compared or computed.

How to use the search lookup

Replace the placeholders in the HTML GET template; remove optional parameters you do not need.
Check types, units, limits and ID formats in the parameter table.
Follow linked results to canonical pages before combining sources.

Misreading to avoid: An empty list means "no results for this lookup". An error message or unavailable source does not mean the data does not exist.

Source-specific next step

Go to the source page for other operations. Use the JSON template only after the HTML result shows that the parameters and source are correct.

AI agent? Read the complete navigation and programming guide.